Latest news with #GreatAustralianDream
News.com.au
3 days ago
- Health
- News.com.au
The real reason Gen Z are so sad and anxious is not what you think
It seems extraordinary when we think about it, but the younger generation seems to have actually listened to all that we are saying, and have taken it on board. They have believed our story that we have ruined their world and that there is no reason to think positively about the future. They have heard us, and believed, when we have told them that we have caused an enormous environmental crisis – that we did it and that we can't fix it. That it is up to them but is really a hopeless task. They have accepted it when we tell them that they should not expect to be able to afford to buy their own home, and that our Great Australian Dream is dead to them. They have bought into our story that we had a glorious past but they will not have a glorious future. This has made them sad. And anxious. A recent survey revealed that Gen Zers are anxious, about work stress, about their health, about the environment, and about being anxious. We have told them that the world is bad and they are anxious about that. Australia is in the grips of a mental health crisis, and people are struggling to know who to turn to, especially our younger generations. Can We Talk? is a News Corp awareness campaign, in partnership with Medibank, equipping Aussies with the skills needs to have the most important conversation of their life. Parents reading this may be surprised, as most things that we tell our kids are dismissed as not relevant. We have tried to teach them to save, to settle down, to make a future – and that is not necessarily accepted as wisdom. However, they have taken on the bad news and are reacting to it. The story is actually worse than that. If they would just heed our warning and save for their own home, recycle, turn off the lights when they leave the room, reduce their consumerism, then they would be heeding us and heading for a good future. They could do what previous generations have done and shown their elders that they can do it better and they can improve the world. That's what has happened for decades. However, this generation seem to have become paralysed and hopeless – without the resources to manage hopelessness and change their behaviour. In our continual talk about mental illness and teaching everyone to check in to make sure that their friend and neighbour and family member is okay, I wonder whether we have made it somehow not okay to be feeling a bit low, or worried about an upcoming exam or talk or evaluation. People are seeking to be excused when emotional challenges are tough, starting at school, where what should be seen as normal anxiety about doing a presentation is accepted as a reason not to do that presentation – thus not giving the child the practise in surviving a stressful situation and discovering that we can do things even when they are difficult and scary. This has contributed to young people having no response to the pessimistic narratives we have shared with them about their futures, and the lack of fight that we expected. We need to continue to check in that those in our purview are okay – but also know and convey that it is okay to feel sad or scared or lonely or anxious, as long as we can find ways to deal with those feelings, either by ourselves or with help from others. The RUOK? we ask should not be begging for a 'Yes' answer – it should always be RUOK meeting the challenges you currently have? Would you like some support? Are you building your strength and skills to deal with life? That is when you are okay. Being okay needs to be understood as being able to tolerate a range of emotions. We need to recognise that in order to feel joy, we need to be able to feel sadness; that anxiety and excitement can feel exactly the same; that life has challenges that we need to be able to face and then move on. It is clear that sharing the good and the bad times make life easier and better, that loneliness can play with our minds and interfere with our capacity to manage the hard times. If we can help each other through the good and the bad times, by supporting each other in confronting and surviving challenges, the whole community will be more resilient and be able to support its members to be strong and content and optimistic.
Sydney Morning Herald
21-05-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Our rent increased by $300 a week. It feels like it should be illegal – but it's not
The 'Great Australian Dream' is dead – that's a statement repeated often enough in Western Australia (and nationally) as house prices continue to climb. The reality is that now, you can't even rent that dream. I rented my first property on my own at 21, earning minimum wage in my first journalism gig. But seven years later, renting anywhere in WA on your own seems almost impossible, unless you're earning well above the minimum – or even the average – full-time wage. Even with two to pay the bills, renting is a challenge. My partner and I were fortunate to be paying below the median rent price for the area we live in, so when our landlord announced he was selling the property to another investor, we knew it was a matter of time before the new owners announced an increase. The email came on a Thursday evening. 'Thanks for being great tenants, we are pleased to offer you a new lease!' it read, before dropping the bomb. Staying on would mean a 50 per cent increase in rent – or almost $300 per week – well above the median price for the area, and beyond what we could afford.
The Age
21-05-2025
- Business
- The Age
Our rent increased by $300 a week. It feels like it should be illegal – but it's not
The 'Great Australian Dream' is dead – that's a statement repeated often enough in Western Australia (and nationally) as house prices continue to climb. The reality is that now, you can't even rent that dream. I rented my first property on my own at 21, earning minimum wage in my first journalism gig. But seven years later, renting anywhere in WA on your own seems almost impossible, unless you're earning well above the minimum – or even the average – full-time wage. Even with two to pay the bills, renting is a challenge. My partner and I were fortunate to be paying below the median rent price for the area we live in, so when our landlord announced he was selling the property to another investor, we knew it was a matter of time before the new owners announced an increase. The email came on a Thursday evening. 'Thanks for being great tenants, we are pleased to offer you a new lease!' it read, before dropping the bomb. Staying on would mean a 50 per cent increase in rent – or almost $300 per week – well above the median price for the area, and beyond what we could afford.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Housing dream turned nightmare weighs on Australian voters ahead of national election
By Kirsty Needham CASULA, Australia (Reuters) - On Sydney's urban fringe, a perfect storm of living cost and geopolitical pressures is brewing for Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the electoral chances of his centre-left Labor government. Maria Markovic, 50, sees renewable energy as driving up prices, and wants politicians to "make Australia great again and affordable". Her home in western Sydney is "packed to the rafters" with three adult children she says can't afford to move out because of home rental costs. "We both have steady jobs, but are we living the same way we did a few years ago? Absolutely not," said the IT professional, shopping with her husband in Casula. Labor is forecast to lose working-class seats in the outer suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne in a May 3 national election, resulting in a hung parliament, as a narrow contest with Peter Dutton's conservative Liberal and National coalition gets under way, according to YouGov polling of 40,000 people in March. As with the 2024 U.S. election loss by the Democrats, housing and living costs top voter concerns, according to multiple polls that show a neck-and-neck race. The pursuit of the "Great Australian Dream" of home ownership is hurting families saddled with high mortgage payments, as Australia's Reserve Bank had raised interest rates 13 times since 2022 before last month's rate cut. In the most stark example of how housing pain could determine the election, the YouGov poll predicted the seat of Werriwa, a 45-minute train journey west of Sydney - held by Labor for 90 years - would be lost. Within Werriwa's electoral boundaries, the suburbs of Casula and Liverpool are experiencing Australia's worst rates of residential mortgage and rental housing distress, data shows. "If somebody has a mortgage, there's not much left," said Bill Regan, 60, who said he sees people queuing for food from charities in Liverpool. "Are people angry enough to make a change? How far does loyalty to the Labor party go?" Dani Wilson, 40, said she is pooling food with other families to reduce costs amid soaring mortgage payments. "People are very open for change at the moment. It has been hurting," Wilson said at a Casula farmers market, where a tray of eggs is cheaper than at the supermarket. The western suburbs have the highest proportion of households with a mortgage across Sydney, so housing will be pivotal to voters there, said Tom Nance, policy and advocacy lead with the Centre for Western Sydney, a think tank. "A lot of people are seeing their chance of grabbing hold of the Great Australian Dream recede into the distance. This is a turning point for a lot of people - they are looking at which party can save that," he said. Labor said it would ban foreign investors from buying existing homes for two years, matching a Liberal-National pledge, and help first-time buyers, but other policies to boost housing supply including more rental and social housing, will take longer to make an impact. "People have lost the dream of home ownership and I am going to restore it," said Dutton, who plans to introduce a "Lower Immigration and More Homes for Australians Bill" if he wins. Offering faster relief for household budgets, Albanese has promised energy bill rebates, tax cuts and pledged A$8.5 billion ($5.38 billion) to make most doctor visits free - the centrepiece of Labor's election campaign. Dutton has matched the health policy, and said if elected prime minister he would lower energy prices, and make petrol cheaper by cutting the fuel excise tax. In Liverpool, Charles Ekwueme and his family have to move out of the home they have rented for four years, after their landlord could no longer afford the mortgage and reduced living costs by moving in himself. Ekwueme looked over a new townhouse in Casula with no yard, constructed under a government build-to-lease policy that seeks to fill a rental housing shortfall by offering tax incentives to property developers. A migrant from Nigeria, he was dismayed at the $750 weekly rent, and no space for children to play. Casula's median rent was $450 in 2021, census data shows. "I have a full-time job and a part-time job. I am working from Sunday to Sunday around the clock just to make sure I can keep up with this. This is pressure," he said. Dutton took his election campaign on Sunday to a mosque in Liverpool. One in five Casula residents are Muslim, with Australian, English and Lebanese the top three ancestries cited in Census data. Concern over Gaza and U.S. President Donald Trump could also affect voting here, several Muslim residents in Casula said. "Growing up, all the communities here would vote more for Labor and I think that is starting to shift because of the decisions they are making about foreign policy," said health worker Madula Ayoubi, 29. "People are starting to shift towards the independents." A dozen independents in parliament are predicted to emerge as kingmakers in 2025, holding their seats and determining who can form a government, as Dutton and Albanese's fight goes down to the line. ($1 = 1.5793 Australian dollars)
Reuters
31-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Housing dream turned nightmare weighs on Australian voters ahead of national election
CASULA, Australia, March 31 (Reuters) - On Sydney's urban fringe, a perfect storm of living cost and geopolitical pressures is brewing for Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the electoral chances of his centre-left Labor government. Maria Markovic, 50, sees renewable energy as driving up prices, and wants politicians to "make Australia great again and affordable". Her home in western Sydney is "packed to the rafters" with three adult children she says can't afford to move out because of home rental costs. "We both have steady jobs, but are we living the same way we did a few years ago? Absolutely not," said the IT professional, shopping with her husband in Casula. Labor is forecast to lose working-class seats in the outer suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne in a May 3 national election, resulting in a hung parliament, as a narrow contest with Peter Dutton's conservative Liberal and National coalition gets under way, according to YouGov polling of 40,000 people in March. As with the 2024 U.S. election loss by the Democrats, housing and living costs top voter concerns, according to multiple polls that show a neck-and-neck race. The pursuit of the "Great Australian Dream" of home ownership is hurting families saddled with high mortgage payments, as Australia's Reserve Bank had raised interest rates 13 times since 2022 before last month's rate cut. In the most stark example of how housing pain could determine the election, the YouGov poll predicted the seat of Werriwa, a 45-minute train journey west of Sydney - held by Labor for 90 years - would be lost. Within Werriwa's electoral boundaries, the suburbs of Casula and Liverpool are experiencing Australia's worst rates of residential mortgage and rental housing distress, data shows. "If somebody has a mortgage, there's not much left," said Bill Regan, 60, who said he sees people queuing for food from charities in Liverpool. "Are people angry enough to make a change? How far does loyalty to the Labor party go?" Dani Wilson, 40, said she is pooling food with other families to reduce costs amid soaring mortgage payments. "People are very open for change at the moment. It has been hurting," Wilson said at a Casula farmers market, where a tray of eggs is cheaper than at the supermarket. The western suburbs have the highest proportion of households with a mortgage across Sydney, so housing will be pivotal to voters there, said Tom Nance, policy and advocacy lead with the Centre for Western Sydney, a think tank. "A lot of people are seeing their chance of grabbing hold of the Great Australian Dream recede into the distance. This is a turning point for a lot of people - they are looking at which party can save that," he said. Labor said it would ban foreign investors from buying existing homes for two years, matching a Liberal-National pledge, and help first-time buyers, but other policies to boost housing supply including more rental and social housing, will take longer to make an impact. "People have lost the dream of home ownership and I am going to restore it," said Dutton, who plans to introduce a "Lower Immigration and More Homes for Australians Bill" if he wins. Offering faster relief for household budgets, Albanese has promised energy bill rebates, tax cuts and pledged A$8.5 billion ($5.38 billion) to make most doctor visits free - the centrepiece of Labor's election campaign. Dutton has matched the health policy, and said if elected prime minister he would lower energy prices, and make petrol cheaper by cutting the fuel excise tax. In Liverpool, Charles Ekwueme and his family have to move out of the home they have rented for four years, after their landlord could no longer afford the mortgage and reduced living costs by moving in himself. Ekwueme looked over a new townhouse in Casula with no yard, constructed under a government build-to-lease policy that seeks to fill a rental housing shortfall by offering tax incentives to property developers. A migrant from Nigeria, he was dismayed at the $750 weekly rent, and no space for children to play. Casula's median rent was $450 in 2021, census data shows. "I have a full-time job and a part-time job. I am working from Sunday to Sunday around the clock just to make sure I can keep up with this. This is pressure," he said. Dutton took his election campaign on Sunday to a mosque in Liverpool. One in five Casula residents are Muslim, with Australian, English and Lebanese the top three ancestries cited in Census data. Concern over Gaza and U.S. President Donald Trump could also affect voting here, several Muslim residents in Casula said. "Growing up, all the communities here would vote more for Labor and I think that is starting to shift because of the decisions they are making about foreign policy," said health worker Madula Ayoubi, 29. "People are starting to shift towards the independents." A dozen independents in parliament are predicted to emerge as kingmakers in 2025, holding their seats and determining who can form a government, as Dutton and Albanese's fight goes down to the line. ($1 = 1.5793 Australian dollars)
